Weight Maintenance Calculator

Calculate the calories needed to maintain your current weight

Calculator Results Information Formulas

Calculate Your Maintenance Calories

Personal Details

About This Calculator

This calculator helps you determine the number of calories needed to maintain your current weight, based on your age, gender, height, weight, and activity level.

Why Calculate Maintenance Calories?

Knowing your maintenance calories is essential for:

  • Weight management
  • Creating effective nutrition plans
  • Setting realistic fitness goals
  • Understanding your body's energy needs

How It Works

1

Enter your personal details

2

Select your activity level

3

Get your maintenance calorie estimate

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Understanding Weight Maintenance

What Are Maintenance Calories?

Maintenance calories refer to the number of calories your body needs to maintain its current weight. This is based on your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE), which consists of:

Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR)

The number of calories your body needs to perform basic life-sustaining functions when at complete rest. This accounts for approximately 60-70% of your daily calorie expenditure.

Physical Activity

Calories burned during daily activities and exercise, accounting for about 20-30% of your total energy expenditure. This varies significantly based on your activity level.

Thermic Effect of Food (TEF)

Calories burned during the digestion, absorption, and processing of the food you eat. This typically accounts for around 10% of your total energy expenditure.

Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (NEAT)

Calories burned during non-exercise physical activities like fidgeting, maintaining posture, and other daily movements that aren't considered formal exercise.

Why Knowing Your Maintenance Calories Matters

Understanding your maintenance calorie needs is fundamental to any weight management strategy:

  • Weight Maintenance: Consuming your maintenance calories will help you maintain your current weight.
  • Weight Loss: Consuming fewer calories than your maintenance level creates a calorie deficit, leading to weight loss.
  • Weight Gain: Consuming more calories than your maintenance level creates a calorie surplus, leading to weight gain.

A common guideline is that 3,500 calories equals approximately 1 pound (0.45 kg) of fat. Therefore, a daily deficit or surplus of 500 calories would theoretically result in a weight change of about 1 pound per week.

Calculation Formulas

Mifflin-St Jeor Formula

Considered the most accurate formula for estimating BMR in most people. It was published in 1990 and has been shown to be more accurate than the Harris-Benedict equation.

For men: 
BMR = (10 × weight in kg) + (6.25 × height in cm) - (5 × age in years) + 5
For women: 
BMR = (10 × weight in kg) + (6.25 × height in cm) - (5 × age in years) - 161

The BMR is then multiplied by an activity factor to determine your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE):

  • Sedentary (little or no exercise): BMR × 1.2
  • Lightly active (light exercise 1-3 days/week): BMR × 1.375
  • Moderately active (moderate exercise 3-5 days/week): BMR × 1.55
  • Very active (hard exercise 6-7 days/week): BMR × 1.725
  • Extra active (very hard exercise & physical job): BMR × 1.9

Harris-Benedict Formula

One of the earliest formulas developed to estimate BMR, created in 1919 and revised in 1984. While still used today, it's generally considered less accurate than the Mifflin-St Jeor equation.

For men: 
BMR = 88.362 + (13.397 × weight in kg) + (4.799 × height in cm) - (5.677 × age in years)
For women: 
BMR = 447.593 + (9.247 × weight in kg) + (3.098 × height in cm) - (4.330 × age in years)

The BMR is then multiplied by the same activity factors as in the Mifflin-St Jeor formula to get the TDEE.

Katch-McArdle Formula

This formula takes into account lean body mass, making it potentially more accurate for individuals who know their body fat percentage. It's particularly useful for athletes and those with higher muscle mass.

BMR = 370 + (21.6 × Lean Body Mass in kg)

Where Lean Body Mass (LBM) = Weight in kg × (1 - body fat percentage / 100)

The BMR is then multiplied by the same activity factors to get the TDEE.